There is a Spanish blog that is collecting and publishing testimonies of people who say they have suffered mistreatment, or that they have seen it happening, during so-called “treatment” of people who suffer so called mental disorders.
Here is a translation of one of these stories (you can find the original here)
I would like to contribute from the experience of being an activist, because since I was a child my life has been linked to the so-called mental illness. My mother was sexually abused by my sister’s boyfriend and went into a deep depression.
At first, she was treated by a psychologist and then by psychiatrists who did not believe her and diagnosed her with bipolar disorder. With all that comes with the diagnosis of involuntary hospitalisation, psychotic medication, electroshock… And so on until she was diagnosed with hydrocephalus.
They didn’t help her to overcome or digest the rape because they didn’t even believe her, when we knew that my mom was telling the truth. These psychiatrists think they have an incredible superiority and the mental health of the citizens is let in their hands as if they were gods who are not wrong.
I have been admitted to psychiatric wards for telling my partner when I was suffering from anxiety, because my partner told them that my mother was bipolar. Then the psychiatrist on duty said I was also bipolar. It was the first time I was seen in an emergency room.
Every time I am admitted (or often) they tie my feet, hands and waist, immobilizing me. It’s demeaning and makes you feel awful and they keep me tied up for four or five days.
My partner behind my back talks to the psychiatrist and I am involuntarily admitted. It’s a nightmare!
The psychiatrists only prescribe and have no interest in listening to you, helping you, etc. Any abuser has carte blanche to mistreat me, admitting you whenever he wants. Diagnoses, in order to be truthful, have to be made in time and based on what the patient reports.
Due to the strong drugs I have been given during my admissions, I have suffered important falls that the psychiatrist laughed at, the scoundrel.
